RCRA Challenges Faced by Retailers

Retailers face serious challenges in complying with their obligations under Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (“RCRA”) and other federal environmental statutes in light of the wide variety of retail products covered by EPA’s waste disposal regulations. EPA recently expressed its intent to consider future rulemaking under RCRA governing retail products unsold, returned, or removed from shelves for inventory changes or recalls. According to the Unified Agenda, a Notice of Data Availability on the issue was planned for March 2013, though EPA has yet to put forth any information or guidance on the subject. EPA’s recent enforcement efforts and multi-million dollar settlement of RCRA and other claims against Wal-Mart underscore the agency’s escalating interest in retail waste and impacts that could reach beyond Wal-Mart to other retail vendors that handle similar waste streams.

Retailers attempting to comply with RCRA should have compliance programs sufficient to ensure they meet RCRA generator requirements and avoid the shipment of hazardous wastes from warehouses and reverse distribution centers. EPA’s consent decree also requires annual monitoring plans to identify new products that are hazardous wastes when disposed of, employee training requirements, development of an environmental management system, maintenance of a hazardous waste electronic database available to all workers to aid in the identification of hazardous wastes, and development of standard operating procedures relating to environmental compliance.Click here for further information on EPA’s RCRA activity.

Crowell & Moring’s Regulatory Forecast 2018

Crowell & Moring's Regulatory Forecast explores how technology is driving the future of business across industries – and how Washington, as well as state and global regulators, is forging the appropriate balance between fostering innovation and protecting consumers.

About Retail & Consumer Products Law Observer

Crowell & Moring is a full-service, international law firm that represents a broad spectrum of clients in the retail and consumer product industries, including wholesale and specialty retailers, department stores, and big-box retailers, apparel, cosmetics, food and beverage, consumer electronics and other consumer products companies, as well as investors in these sectors. Our clients call upon us, time and again, to help them navigate the complex legal and regulatory regimes, both domestically and internationally, applicable to the design and promotion of products and services, and to assist them in taking innovative and proactive measures to protect their business from the array of challenges before them. Our Retail & Consumer Products Law Observer blog features legal insight and thought-leadership affecting the industry.